Menu

Things to do in Kraków

Visiting Kraków was the main point of our trip to Poland and we had three full days to enjoy the city. We packed loads into those three days and saw everything the city had to offer despite it being -10 degrees. We’d definitely recommend all the activities we did but perhaps just not our timing… visit Poland in summer if you have any sense at all!!!

We started our first day by doing a free walking tour of the Jewish quarter of the city. Personally, I’m a big fan of walking tours as they give you your bearings in a new city and give you a chance to get plenty of photos too! However, on this occasion, it was a disaster! It was so cold my hands never left my pockets to go into my camera bag and by the end of it none of us could feel our thighs… In winter we’d recommend doing the tour in a buggy, it’d be a similar price and ten times warmer!! Keep the walking tours for the warmer locations!

The Auschwitz-Birkenau museum and memorial are located just over an hour from the city. I’m not gonna talk too much about it because honestly, I don’t know what to think, never mind what to say. I will just give two pieces of advice. Firstly, if you go to Kraków, you have to pay a visit, it’s something I believe everyone should experience once. Secondly, don’t book online in advance or through your hostel/hotel, do what we did, walk down the main street and find the cheapest available package. Everywhere is offering the same tour but while it can be €40 online, you can get it for as little as 80 Zloty over there, less than half the price.

Kraków’s modern art gallery is both weird and wonderful, typical of modern art galleries! It’s cheap in and there free luggage minding. We spent an hour here experiencing the weird art and being inspired by the art to take some cool pics and boomerangs. Like most modern art galleries photography is allowed and it’s very quiet so perfect to have some fun and be inspired, you can experience art and create it!

The Salt Mines are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Kraków and with good reason, the underground maze is full of gems, and it’s all lickable!! There are cathedrals, waterfalls and lagoons all carved entirely out of rock salt! We were very lucky to have a tour no one else showed up for so we essentially had a private tour around mines with a guide who did her utmost to make sure we enjoyed our visit. The train to the airport goes from the salt mines so it’s the perfect place to finish your holiday and also lets you end on a high note.

Overall Krakow was a wonderful holiday and I can highly recommend a trip there. While the city wasn’t my cup of tea, the experiences I had there and the memories made will last me a lifetime (despite my lack of photos due to the cold!)